Ab initio protein structure prediction: Progress and prospects

Considerable recent progress has been made in the field of ab initio protei n structure prediction, as witnessed by the third Critical Assessment of St ructure Prediction (CASP3). In spite of this progress, much work remains, f or the field has yet to produce consistently reliable ab initio structure p rediction protocols. In this work, we review the features of current ab ini tio protocols in an attempt to highlight the foundations of recent progress in the field and suggest promising directions for future work.